The present invention relates to the field of printing. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for printing receipts and validating forms using a printer having dual-purpose roller shaft.
There are several dual-purpose printers in the prior art capable of both printing receipts and validating forms, such as checks or coupons. Such printers are used, for example, in conjunction with cash registers at grocery stores, convenience stores, and at other point-of-sale applications. Such printers typically have a roll of paper used to print receipts and a separate slot which accepts forms to be validated and which prints validation indicia on such forms (e.g., checks, coupons, vouchers, etc.). The prior art dual-purpose printers typically have a trapped or enclosed receipt paper path that is not easily accessible. Paper in each machine is loaded from the supply roll, under a non-opening drive roller assembly. The paper follows the roller to a vertical path where the paper is printed. If a jam occurs during the loading or during printer operation it can be very difficult to remove the paper.
It would be advantageous to provide a dual-purpose printer that validates inserted forms and prints receipts using a low-cost, compact architecture. It would also be advantageous to provide such a printer with independent drive mechanisms for driving paper through a receipt path for printing receipts and for driving a form out of a validation path after validation and printing of validation indicia thereon. It would be advantageous to provide such a printer with a dual-purpose roller which idles against the receipt drive roller for printing of receipts and which drives a validation drive roller for validation of forms. It would be further advantageous to provide a validation slot that allows for variable form positioning. In addition, it would be advantageous to enable easy access to the drive roller assemblys and the receipt paper path to enable paper jams to be removed quickly.
The methods and apparatus of the present invention provide the foregoing and other advantages.